Is dog food bad for dogs?

Question

Someone told me that dog food is actually bad. I was advised that feeding my dog brown rice, vegetables, and meat would be cheaper and better than dog food. Is this true?

Answer 1

There are certain types of dog food that is bad for dogs. Any sort of grocery brands and even some "premium" brands. Make sure the food you choose has NO by products (heads, feet, feathers, intestines and sometimes cancerous parts). And no corn - it's hard to digest.

Read up on the food you choose - the vitamins, minerals, anitioxidents and what they all do for your dog. Know if your dog is prone to bloat or digestional issues and choose a food accordingly.

Know if your dog is allergic to certain ingrediants, or skin allergies. (if so watch for wheat in the food).

There is a web site you can go to find out more information about the raw food diet - but domesticated dogs aren't really bred to handle that sort of food so make sure you are putting in the right ingrediants, amount of proteins, fillers (rice) and veggies so you don't upset the dogs balance. (i.e. to much protein makes the dog hyper).

I have my girls on nutro natural choice large breed formula. I've heard wonderful things about royal canin as well. Veterinarians will make recommendations depending on what they stock in their clinic. They get paid a certain percentage based on how many are sold. Just read the ingrediants on the package and determine what you should choose based on your research of the breed of dog you have and medical tendancies.

Do some research first to determine what is best for your dog.

Answer 2

Someone said they wouldn't sell it if it were bad, that's isn't necessarily true since Pedigree and Alpo are fully of horrible ingredients for your dog, but they still sell it. Dog food isn't nearly as regulated as it should be. Oftentimes companies use cheap filler ingredients to add weight to the food and spray the food with oils to entice dogs into eating it. This is common with many of the low quality grocery store, department store, and even some of the petstore dog foods. Some really good dog foods are Innova, Canidae, and Wellness. These are made with human grade ingredients with no grains, fillers, added fat, or sugars. Buying one of these dog foods would be easier than making your own dog food and probably cheaper, but you'd be getting the same benefits since the ingredients are of such a high quality.

And I wanted to add that many vets have no idea about what is in a high quality dog food. They don't really teach classes in veterinary school about dog food and what should/shouldn't be in them. Many vets will simply suggest you buy what they sell in their office(usually Science Diet) and that is never a really high quality food.

Answer 3

Wet food is ok for dogs. But, they do need to have dry food of some sort to help keep their teeth clean. So if you dogs are fed a combination of wet and dry food, I am sure they are getting what they need. Why don't you feed everyone their wet food in the morning and then leave dry down for the rest of the day for snacking or feed them dry food for the evening meal. There really is no need to mix the food together.

Answer 4

Most dog foods (like you buy in the grocery store) are using ingredients that have been rejected/unfit or byproducts of the human food industry. That means they're making their product out of cheap junk which is often of questionable nutritional value at best. These same companies produce studies and nutritional books to provide to veterinary med schools so all the education your vet receives is from the food companies. So it's natural that vets often recommend food like iams or science diet.

There are better foods out there. Foods that are using real human grade ingredients and wholesome quality foods. Try looking for ingredients that include whole, identifiable ingredients like lamb (not lamb meal, not lamb by products and not 'animal meat') or other real meats. Try www.petfooddirect.com for a good place to compare ingredients. Try www.whole-dog-journal.com to learn more about ingredients used in your dog's food and how to make better choices.

You can cook your own dinner for your dogs. The problem with cooking is that you lose some vitamins due to cooking but not others. How do you make this balanced for your dog (and I don't mean daily balancing but balancing the diet over time)?

Do some research and come to your OWN conclusions. I did research and went to ultra premium dog foods like nature's variety prairie brand and newman's organics and then went to prepared raw foods like aunt jeni's and then went to whole prey raw foods. I completely prefer raw foods but i did about 18 months of research first and talking to people I knew who fed raw. I started my raw food education here www.rawfed.com

It's an eye opening experience learning what goes in to your dog's food. It begins to make you wonder what goes in to what YOU'RE eating! :)

Answer 5

Dog food is generally balanced to maintain your dogs health, assuming you buy a good brand and not the cheapest on the shelf. There are people who feed there dog rice, meats and vegatables. This is a more wholeistic approach, but, you really need to provide a multivitamin to insure that your pet gets the nutrition needed for it's health.

Answer 6

Certain store bought dog food is bad for your dog. There are some very good quality, heathy dog foods. I don't know what breed, your dog is, but if you just call your vet, he/she can recommend something suitable and healthy for your dog. Feeding human food is not really good for a dog, because it doesn't have the proper nutrients needed, and if you start feeding your dog human food, that's all it will want to eat, and you will have a really hard time, getting your dog to eat dog food again. My vet told me to feed my Chihuahuas, "Royal Canin", and they love it and it's good for them.

Answer 7

Some dog food is bad, like kibbles and bites, that dog food is like candy to dogs. ask your vet the best food to give your dog. I use Beneful, it has all the things a dog needs to be healthy and it isnt expensive.
Also cooked rice and cooked ground beef ( make sure you strain the fat out though) is good as well to mix into the dog food. My dogs love it!
Giving your dog table scraps is ok as long as you dont over do it. no more then a thumb size taste once a day.You must stick to giving your dog dog food thats important.

Answer 8

You could try organic dog food

Answer 9

SOME dogfood has questionable content and nutritional value.There are also some very good grainless varieties available. If you choose the other direction,it's mostly meat and bone with a few veggies. Check out www.barfworld.com for info on raw feeding.

Answer 10

Dog food is horrible. I feed my dog a mixture of rice, chicken, and broths.